The "truths" of Hypermodernity/Supermoderity

“Hypermodernity” (sometimes called “Supermodernity”) is defined a being a step forward from postmodernism, which relies upon the idea of “plausible truths”.

It has a furthered commitment to reason and believes in individual choice and freedom.

As modernity focused on the creation of great truths, and postmodernity is intent upon the destruction of these great truths, supermodernity doesn’t concern itself with either the creation or identification of the value of truths – it instead focuses on useful information selected from the numerous sources of new media.

It appears to focus on what is actually real within society, not what is told to us by academics to be real and truthful; as in the theories of modernity and postmodernity.

Key theorists

Gilles Lipovetsky - French philosopher, writer and sociologist, professor at the University of Grenoble

Sebastian Charles

Marc Auge – French anthropologist, coined the phrase “non-place”

Eva Etzioni-Halevy

Richard Scot Barnett

Reading list

“Non places: introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity” – Marc Auge

“Hypermodern Times” - Gilles Lipovetsky and Sebastian Charles

“The new theories of postmodernity and hypermodernity: Social/ideological context and implications for inequality” - Eva Etzioni-Halevy

“A Space for Agency: Rhetorical Agency, Spatiality, and the Production of Relations in Supermodernity” – Richard Scot Barnett

I could use the key idea of finding what is real (from hypermodernity/supermodernity) in my study of the cultural significance of “A Clockwork Orange”, as the film aims to expose the truth and reality of the brutality and horror in the world; from underneath the smoke screen of “supposed truths and realties” set up by the state and the authorities.

So many opinions, so little time

“Postmodernism and the Other Side” – Dick Hebdige

Hebdige refers to the term “postmodernism” as a buzzword; saying that the terms success has generated problems, as during the 1980s the term was stretched in all different directions – meaning that “postmodernism” now has numerous different meanings.

He insists that he is not trying to suggest that the term is meaningless, but that it is so complex and contradictory that it allows the negotiation of numerous different meanings.

Stating that the word “post” means “past”, Hebdige points out that there is very little agreement as to what it is that we have supposed to have surpassed, when we surpassed it and what effects this is supposed to have had.

He goes on to describe several theorists’ views on postmodernism, in an attempt to clarify the diversity of the term.

Michael Newman (1986)

• “There are a least two artistic modernisms articulating different politico-aesthetic aspirations”

1. (Derived from Kant) One which seeks to establish the absolute autonomy of art

2. (Traced back to Hegel) One which puts art into life and leads through the surrealists, the constructivists and the futurists

Jean-Francois Lyotard (1986)

• Three separate tendencies

1. A trend within architecture

2. A decay in confidence in the idea and progress of modernism

3. A recognition that it is no longer appropriate to use the term “avant-garde”

J.G. Merquior (1986)

• Three separate tendencies

1. A style or mood of exhaustion/dissatisfaction with modernism in art and literature

2. A new trend in post-structuarlist philosophy

3. A new cultural age in the West

Hal Foster (1983)

• Distinguishes between neo-conservative, anti-modernist and critical postmodernisms
• Some critics seek to extend and revitalise modernist projects
• Others condemn modernist objectives and attempt to correct the effects of modernity on family life, moral values etc
• Others look to open up new discursive spaces outside the confines of established practices, the art market and the modernist orthodoxy

Critical Pluralism

• Defines postmodernism as a positive critical advance which fractures through two sources

1. The petrified hegemony of earlier “radical aesthetic” strategies

2. The pre-Freudian subject which formed the hub of the progressive wheel of modernisation

See, life's not so bad, is it?

"A Clockwork Orange" was a highly controversial film when it was first released in the UK in 1972, and it was later banned from cinemas for almost 30 years. Not really surprising, considering that director Stanley Kubrick created a ultra-violent masterpiece - featuring the key components of gang culture, rape, mugging and murder. The film also takes on the state, through it's disturbing scenes of a government advised brainwashing experiment and the brutality of the national police force. So all in all, this film set out to break all the rules of traditional film making and tackle some of the worst fears facing the general public at this time.

But despite all the supposedly negative aspects that "A Clockwork Orange" portrays, I am here to argue that this media text actually offers its audience a great level of Matthew Arnold's desired "sweetness and light". Arnold praised cultural works that offered the audience any form of "sweetness and light" in their lives, and I believe that this film does exactly that - just in an unconventional way.

Due to the fact that this film is so full of ultra-violence, and all things ghastly, I believe that this infact creates "sweetness and light" in our lives - as we realise that no matter what problems we might be facing in life, nothing could be as bad as being subjected to one of the unspeakable acts committed by gang-leader Alex DeLarge. Nothing could be as bad as being compelled to behave as DeLarge does either, in fact. The audience can find comfort in the fact that they are neither the victim or the perpetrator of such awful crimes, and can conclude that their lives are not such a bad existence after all.

I think "A Clockwork Orange" also offers its audience an outlet for any violent tendencies they might have - without breaking the law of course. Coming home after a long day at work, to a moaning partner and house full of screaming kids and other responsibilities can't be easy, and watching such a violent and graphic film like "A Clockwork Orange" would allow the audience to vent any frustrations and revel in a "fantasy" world of violence - without the need to act out such desires for real, I would hope.

So lose yourself in the ultra-violent world of "A Clockwork Orange"; remembering that your life could be far far worse than it actually is - you could be as messed up beyond all recognition, so think yourself lucky.